First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) Competitors

First Horizon (NYSE:FHN) and First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, community ranking, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, risk and valuation.

Do analysts recommend FHN or FFBC?

First Horizon presently has a consensus price target of $21.00, suggesting a potential upside of 5.32%. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus price target of $28.67, suggesting a potential upside of 4.97%. Given First Horizon's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Horizon is more favorable than First Financial Bancorp..

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Horizon	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.54
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer FHN or FFBC?

First Horizon received 229 more outperform votes than First Financial Bancorp. when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 54.56% of users gave First Horizon an outperform vote while only 46.44% of users gave First Financial Bancorp. an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Horizon	Outperform Votes 503 54.56%	Underperform Votes 419 45.44%
First Financial Bancorp.	Outperform Votes 274 46.44%	Underperform Votes 316 53.56%

Does the media favor FHN or FFBC?

In the previous week, First Horizon had 13 more articles in the media than First Financial Bancorp.. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for First Horizon and 4 mentions for First Financial Bancorp.. First Financial Bancorp.'s average media sentiment score of 1.41 beat First Horizon's score of 0.33 indicating that First Financial Bancorp. is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Horizon	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
First Financial Bancorp.	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is FHN or FFBC a better dividend stock?

First Horizon pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. First Horizon pays out 43.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 41.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in FHN or FFBC?

80.3% of First Horizon shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of First Horizon shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better earnings and valuation, FHN or FFBC?

First Horizon has higher revenue and earnings than First Financial Bancorp.. First Financial Bancorp. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Horizon, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Horizon	$3.17B	3.33	$897M	$1.38	14.45
First Financial Bancorp.	$812.08M	3.21	$255.86M	$2.32	11.77

Which has more volatility and risk, FHN or FFBC?

First Horizon has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is FHN or FFBC more profitable?

First Financial Bancorp. has a net margin of 18.55% compared to First Horizon's net margin of 15.43%. First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity of 10.32% beat First Horizon's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Horizon	15.43%	9.51%	1.01%
First Financial Bancorp.	18.55%	10.32%	1.35%

Summary

First Horizon beats First Financial Bancorp. on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.